After weeks of rumors and speculation, the San Francisco 49ers finally moved on from veteran wide receiver Deebo Samuel. San Francisco traded Samuel to the Washington Commanders for a fifth-round pick.
With Samuel on his way to Washington, the 49ers can move on and start to figure out how they will replace Samuel in their offense. It won’t be easy to replace Samuel as he played an integral role in the team’s success over many years.
When opposing teams had to face the 49ers, not only did they have to worry about Samuel, but also Brandon Aiyuk, George Kittle, and Christian McCaffrey over the last two years. Speaking of Kittle, the veteran tight end gave a shoutout to Samuel on social media.
In an Instagram post with a picture of Kittle and Samuel, the star tight end left the caption, “My brother! Go be great!”
George Kittle 🤝 Deebo Samuel pic.twitter.com/okI5sl2Jcw
— OurSF49ers (@OurSf49ers) March 2, 2025
As you can imagine, Kittle’s post made San Francisco fans feel way. It's the end of an era as Samuel and Kittle became stars with the 49ers and helped the team make two Super Bowl appearances.
Samuel joined the team as a second round pick in the 2019 NFL Draft, while Kittle was a fifth-round pick in the 2017 NFL Draft.
Over his six-year run with the 49ers, Samuel only posted one 1,000-yard receiving season in 2021 (1,405 – career high). However, due to his jack of all trades ability, the veteran wideout had two seasons with 1,000-plus yards from scrimmage.
Samuel wasn’t a wide receiver in the 49ers’ offense, he was their ultimate swiss army knife, which helped them become one of the best teams in the NFC. It will be interesting to see how the 49ers replace Samuel.
Kittle will likely see more targets in the passing game, while the other receivers (Brandon Aiyuk, Ricky Pearsall, and Jauan Jennings) will be asked to do more. We’ll see if 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan leans on those guys.